1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a flaring apparatus for flaring a rim element of a wheel for a vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to a die member position adjusting apparatus and a defective rim element ejecting apparatus for a flaring apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art:
Vehicle wheels are conventionally manufactured on a wheel manufacture line by the following series of steps: First, a long plate of predetermined width is cut to a specified length and rolled to form a tube. The end portions of the rolled plate are then butt welded together to form a one piece cylindrical element. The cylindrical element is conveyed to a flaring apparatus where both end portions of the cylindrical element are flared by inserting die members into the cylindrical element from either side thereof. The flared element is then conveyed to a rim forming apparatus which typically comprises a plurality of rim forming machines arranged in series where each flared element is press formed to produce a desired rim configuration. The rim element is subsequently conveyed to a disk insertion station where a disk which has been formed on another manufacturing line is inserted into the rim element. The formed rim element together with the disk are then conveyed to a welding machine where they are welded together to form a disk wheel. The disk wheel is ultimately painted.
There are deficiencies, however, with the above flaring apparatus.
First, positional adjustment of the die members of the flaring machine is difficult. More particularly, in the conventional flaring machine the die members are mounted via shims on die member mounting blocks which can be driven toward or away from each other. When the type of wheel to be manufactured is changed, the die members must also be changed, since the shape, diameter, width and thickness of the rim element vary with the type of wheel to be manufactured. When the die members are changed, positional adjustment of the die members with respect to the mounting blocks is accompanied by inserting shims having various thicknesses between the die members and the mounting blocks in order to find, by trial and error, the most appropriate shim thickness. The shim having the most appropriate thickness is then fixed between the die members and the blocks. Every time a shim is inserted, the die members have to be removed from the mounting blocks. As is apparent, this process is troublesome and can take a considerable amount of time.
A second short coming with the conventional flaring apparatus is that there was no means provided for ejecting a defective rim element from the manufacturing line. More particularly, on occasion a rim element will defectively butt welded and, therefore, may break at the site of the butt weld during the flaring process. The broken rim element, if not ejected, will disadvantageously be conveyed to the next manufacturing station.